Something Lacking
by blurred3883
Summary: Ed sacrificed the most important thing to return to the other side of the gate... Or did he maybe gain something? And to make matters worse, something's wrong with Al! Complete
1. Homecoming

A/N- A third story. I promise I'll have the third chapter of my other story up by at least tomorrow night. I swear! I decided to make a story about Pride, because for some reason, Pride is just very... interesting.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 1- Homecoming

This was nothing like Edward would ever have or ever had expected to happen.

Being trapped in Germany on the other side of the gate with his father had been punishment enough, but it wasn't until he'd finally started to settle down there that things went completely, horribly wrong. Why was it that Ed could never have a week of peace? Was it because he was a sinner? Maybe, but maybe not. God just hated him.

Honestly though, who wouldn't want to get back to their family and friends, no matter what it took to achieve this? Ed had sacrificed the ultimate piece of himself, or rather, maybe he'd simply gained something. But that wasn't equivalent exchange, or was it? Either way, whatever you would call what had happened to him, it completely ruined his life.

Yet again, he wasn't thinking about himself, but more about his brother. Especially his brother. Was Al even alive to see Ed coming back? What would be the point of returning if he wasn't there? He'd just have to wait and see...

---

Alphonse Elric and Izumi Curtis had returned to Resembool after a year of studying up on their alchemy skills. Izumi's were already exceedingly efficient, seeing as she could transmute without a circle, and Al, after regaining his body from the gate, was finding he could do the same. It had been five years since Ed had dissapeared, and Al had never stopped searching. Not even for a minute. He'd dreamed up several ideas of how to open the gate, maybe take from it, to see his brother again, but Izumi declined all of them.

It was a cold morning at the Rockbell house, where Winry, Rose, Rose's child, Izumi, and Al were staying. Pinako had passed away a mere three months ago, and Winry still mourned her loss, having to keep up with the automail business alone. Actually, Rose's son, who was five years of age, had taken a great liking to automail, and often helped Winry with some of the basic skills.

All the house work was finished, and everyone was silent. Dead silent.

"So... Did anyone hear any news from Central lately?" Winry attempted to break the void with her cheerful voice, but it just wasn't working. Izumi, who often chose to ignore people, not out of disrespect, but for certain other reasons, had nothing to say.

"No, it's been pretty quiet around here, actually," Rose answered, with a smile apparent on her already glowing face as she watched her son drawing casually on the floor. "Though I do sometimes wonder whatever happened to that Mustang character..."

"So do I." Then, there was silence again. Winry chose this time to look over to Al, who was sitting in the corner, staring at the floor, eyes big and heavy, probably thinking about Ed again. He always did get teary, not just because Edward was no longer there for him to converse with, but also because he was a bit sensitive when people talked about this "Roy Mustang," who had recently become the Fuhrer.

Then again, it wasn't just Roy. It was anyone Al had supposedly met when his soul was trapped in a suit of armor. He couldn't remember anything, and no matter how hard Winry and Izumi had tried to explain things to him, they'd always left a little out. They figured if Ed ever did manage his way back, he would explain it the best.

But after so long, five years to be precise, was it really possible Edward would make his way back... At all?

"I'm going to go close some windows. It looks like it's going to rain." Winry used this sentence as her exit from the room. Rose leaned down to her son and began to ask him about his drawings, which he happily answered, and Izumi finally tried to push the silence that was surrounding Al away.

"So, Alphonse, anything else for us to try today?" Izumi always attempted to be friendly around the younger Elric. He'd lost his entire family, and he still never cried.

"No..."

Al was mostly silent these days. A few people might think he'd gone mute, despite the few 'hellos' and 'goodbyes' they recieved from him.

"I see." Izumi stood up and turned to Rose and her son, hoping to gain their attention. But even if she didn't get it... "I'm going for a walk. If Winry comes downstairs, tell her I'll be back in an hour." Rose nodded in affirmation, and Izumi headed for the door, but not before Winry had already reached the bottom of the stairs to see her departure.

"Where are you headed off to? It looks like it's about to rain..."

"Just out for a walk." Winry cocked her head in amusement. Maybe a walk could help her get over this boring day, or at least a few minutes of it.

"Could I come?" Izumi glared at her, and Winry knew she was intruding, but she didn't care. Izumi had always struck her as a kind and understanding woman, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Much to her suprise, Izumi nodded her head in agreement.

"Suit yourself." Winry was about to walk out the door when she realized...

"Would you like to come along, Al?"

"No thank you, Winry. I'm actually kind of tired." Tired. This was Al's excuse when he wanted to avoid a conversation. And apparently he knew that all Winry wanted out of him was a conversation, probably to lay some more unbelievable facts down in front of him, expecting him to take them in with contentment. In all honesty, Al had problems believing all of the facts they tried to force down his throat.

"Well, alright Al..." Winry looked a little hurt. Alphonse could see it in her eyes, but he didn't change his mind. He'd rather not have to look at her, trying to hold in her own tears as she explained to him about his brother. Still, for the most part, Al was a friendly person, just not quite as conversational as he used to be.

---

"Where am I?" Edward found himself asking this over, and over again, plenty of times after opening his eyes while lying next a gently moving stream, in a rather peaceful looking enviroment. It did look as though it were going to rain, but other than that, this place looked as though it were filled to the brim with contentment for all who came upon it.

Oddly familiar though it seemed, Ed pushed himself to a standing position and walked slowly downstream, following the water to a sandbar, and a hill. He sighed to himself. If he had any relation to this area at all, why couldn't he think of what it was?

Cloaked in his usual red trench coat, but missing his gloves, Ed trudged up the hill, and was destined on continuing, until he thought he heard voices coming from the right of his current location.

"I've found that Gracia was correct. Apple pies really do cook better with maple syrup." Sure enough, two figures appeared over the top of the hill, obviously just taking a nice, casual walk. Ed figured they'd go about their own way, until the young looking blonde stopped abrubtly in her steps. It seemed she'd caught site of him. What the hell was she staring at, anyway? Was there something wrong with him?

"Uh, hi," Ed said, hoping he'd find out what was wrong with this person. Why was she looking at him like he should have been dead? He decided to take advantage of this situation, rather than wandering around aimlessly for a few more hours. "Could you explain to me where I am?" Instead of answering his question, the blonde jumped towards him, about to hug him, before she was stopped by her older-looking dark-haired friend.

"Hang on, Winry." Izumi seemed to know exactly what Winry was thinking. It wasn't everyday you saw someone who resembled Ed in _almost _every way. Yes, almost. There were a few things that seemed a little off about this guy.

"But..."

Izumi pointed to Ed's right arm. "Flesh?" Winry looked a little taken aback as she stared at Ed, questionably. And Ed stared back. Who are these people! Instead of jumping out to Edward, as Winry had done, Izumi decided she'd take a more cautious route. "Excuse me, sir, but what would your name be?"

At that moment, Ed had forgotten his own name. Or had he never known it in the first place?

"I... I don't know." He replied, putting his head down. And that was when Izumi noticed that the pupils were a little smaller than they should have been, while the rest of the iris remained the same. Was this really Ed, or just some imposter? Surely if it was Ed playing a joke on them, he would have said something by now.

"I expect you'd like some form of communication?" Ed nodded. "Then come with us."

And Edward followed Winry and Izumi, hoping someone, whomever was waiting back at that house, could help to explain something about him.

A/N- If anyone knows whether Rose named her baby or not... And what his name was, I would really appreciate it if someone told me! Please and thank you!


	2. Split

A/N- Not a whole lot happened in one day... Just lucky we have Monday off because it's Labor Day. High School is such a bother...

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters.

Chapter 2- Split

By the time Winry, Izumi, and 'Ed' reached the house, a few raindrops were beginning to hit the ground. Winry was practically dying from a panic attack. Could this possibly be the Edward Elric she'd known for so many years? It looked so much like him... The hair, the eyes, the face, the clothes, all of it related to her childhood friend. Yet, this couldn't be him. His automail was missing, replaced by flesh. How was this Ed?

Her question didn't need to be answered. Somehow, she knew it was him. She was sure of it.

'Ed' had stayed quiet for almost the entire walk home. After his short conversation with Winry about where he was, and who he was, the only other thing he'd bothered to say was that she was pretty, and this was probably out of respect so she wouldn't leave him behind. Whoever this was, he was a lost soul in need of some serious help.

Izumi still wasn't convinced this was her former student. Sure, he resembled Ed in such a way that it was almost impossible to resemble him more, but something was up. Edward's first question wouldn't have been about where he was, but rather, where his younger brother was. Where was the Edward Elric Izumi knew? Had he really dissapeared, never to pop up again? Was he dead? Did anyone know?

The door opened with a slight creek as Winry poked her head through the door to see if anyone was waiting in the living room. When she was absolutely sure that no one inhabited that area, she led 'Edward' through the door, motioning for him to sit down on the couch while she got him a glass of water. He looked dehydraited, and he probably was.

"You have a nice house." 'Ed' said, staring around the room with utmost curiosity.

"Thank you," Winry replied, handing him a small glass of water with a few ice cubes in it. He looked at it with caution, then looked up at Winry with his golden eyes. "Is something the matter?" 'Ed' shook his head, and downed the substance with a single gulp, and handed the glass back to the blonde female standing next to him, watching his every move. "I kind of figured you'd be thirsty. Don't you know where you came from?" He put his head down, and closed his eyes.

"I can't remember. I'm not sure how I got here, but thanks for showing me some hospitality." Now Winry was starting to question her previous thoughts. The Ed she knew was never this kind, especially not to her. So who was this guy that he could look so much like Ed, yet have such a different personality? Did Edward have a twin brother she didn't know about?

"It's no problem, really. Would you like to meet the rest of the family?" Winry hoped that Izumi didn't have a problem with being referred to as 'family.' Especially when Izumi probably had her own family waiting for her somewhere. At first, she recieved only a questionable look, but then 'Ed' nodded at her. His expression still hadn't changed much from when they'd found him laying down by the creek. It was pretty plain. And his eyes... There was something wrong with his eyes, too.

Izumi was already halfway up the stairs when Winry turned away from 'Ed.' In the meantime, she decided she'd go put the glass back into the kitchen.

When Winry returned to the living room, 'Ed' was still sitting on the couch, examining the soft feeling of it. Maybe he was some kind of alien from another planet where they didn't have different pieces of furniture to sit on. Then, without warning, Rose's son came bounding down the stairs, happiness apparently in his attitude. He must have been excited to meet someone new. Rose ran down behind him, probably to calm him down. Izumi was next, and behind her, stood Al.

Rose's eyes got a little larger when she saw who was sitting on the couch, but after what she'd been told by Izumi upstairs just a minute before, she knew she had to pretend as though they had never met before. She held out her hand, and 'Ed' shook it without worry. Her son was still bouncing up and down. Izumi was still giving the person on the couch a cold stare.

Many would think a person who hadn't seen someone for so long wouldn't recognize this certain someone right away. But Al knew.

It was strange, really, the transformation that took place in the Rockbell living room that day. Al knew it was his brother sitting in front of him, and he wondered if Ed knew it was him staring back, his younger brother he'd supposedly been working to bring back the body of. And what was weird, was that he did in fact realize this. Winry gasped as the eyes of 'Ed' mysteriously changed back to those familiar ones she'd known for most of her life, and he lunged forward, pulling his younger brother into a strong embrace that was quickly returned.

"He finally get some sense knocked into him?" Izumi asked, now confused. Was this Ed, or wasn't it?

Edward pulled his head up, as Al plopped down on the couch next to him, not bothering to ask any questions pertaining to where he'd been for all of these years. Al wasn't stupid. He knew that Ed probably wouldn't want to answer them so soon. Maybe he'd been through a lot? Who could know?

"Uh... Winry?" Winry went into shock, as did the rest of the room. Since when did he know who she was?

"Yes, Ed?" Izumi gave her a cold stare, almost as though questioning her ability to read a certain person's intentions without asking them any questions about the subject. Winry would have returned it, but she had to keep her attention on the confused looking Edward Elric sitting on her couch.

"How did I get here?" Here we go again...

---

"Well now that all of that's answered, we have a few questions to ask you." Izumi's voice cut through the chattering that was emitted from the other five people around her. These were some important things they needed to know from Ed, and if they didn't ask now, they might not get to in the future. You never could know what Ed was planning to do with himself. Ed looked at his sensei, a small bit of worry building up within him. "What happened to your automail?"

"What do you m..." It seemed that Edward finally noticed he no longer had automail. What had happened to it? He couldn't even remember how he'd ended up at Winry's in the first place. He knew how Al was back, but how was he here, existing in the world of alchemy? "I didn't even... I mean, I don't... I... I..." All at once, a steady pain rushed to the elder Elric's head.

"That's okay Ed. You can tell us later." Winry looked at Izumi angrily. She could see the pain in Ed's eyes, knowing he'd be questioned for days upon days until his brain either blew up, or deflated. One or the other.

"Yeah, I would rather." Ed's attention moved from Winry to his younger brother, who was stirring beside him. "Hey Al, how old are you?" Al looked at Ed, beginning to wonder about his lack of judgement.

"Fifteen."

"I thought you'd be twenty by now..." That question would go unanswered for a while. Then again, it didn't matter. All Edward cared was that his brother had his body back, and he did. Al stood up, and Ed watched him make his way across the room over to where the kitchen door sat.

Another strange occurance. The second Al left the room, it seemed that Ed went back to his unknowing self. His pupils became small once more, and he looked like he was either extremely drugged, trying to find his way through a city he'd never been to before and couldn't recognize, or like there was no happiness contained within him. Proabably the later of the two.

"Ed? Edward?" Izumi demanded his attention as he staired blankly into the corner. He wouldn't even look at her. That is, until Al made another entrance into the room. "Ed?" His head turned imediately to his teacher. "That is strange."

---

Later that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Winry and Izumi sat up, discussing their current circumstances. Mostly, it was about Ed, but some of it was about Alphonse and his reaction to the situation as well. He'd handled it very well.

"You do notice, his attention averts to the corners of the room when his younger brother isn't in the room." Izumi was looking directly into Winry's eyes.

"Yes. What could have happened to him while he was on the other... The other side?"

"I don't know, but whatever did happen, it wasn't a good thing. They took something from him." Winry's pupils were imediately a lot smaller than they'd been just a mere few seconds before.

"What... What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but I have guesses. I don't even know if my guess would be that accurate."

"It could be. What is it?"

"But I..." Izumi was contemplaiting her idea further, as Winry could clearly tell from staring at her with curiosity. "It's impossible for my idea to be correct, even if it is relatively similar to what has actually happened to Edward." Winry leaned in closer. "I've seen these things happen before, with Wrath..." Winry remembered Wrath, the hyper energetic little cutie. "Where someone can be normal sometimes, but not always."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying a homunculi is trying to take over his body. I'm saying that in exchange for a safe passage across the gate, they took his soul.

---

Upstairs, it was relatively quiet in every room except for Ed and Al's. They were having a fun time, trying to get to know each other all over again, Ed having to explain about his experiences in Munich, and Al telling him everything he could pertaining to what had been happening in Amestris. Al's story wasn't anything big, but Edward had to admit it. He was happy to hear his younger brother had never given up on him. After all, he'd never given up on his younger brother.

"So, what's Dad like?" Ed grimaced at this question. He'd hated his father when he'd arrived in Munich, and his thoughts on the subject hadn't changed a whole lot over the time he'd been there. "Is he nice?" Yes, and no...

"Well, yeah, but..." Alphonse was looking at Ed in adoration. He hadn't seen or heard from his father for so long, it was nice just to hear that he was doing okay. Edward saw this, and decided not to make his father out to be too much of a jerk... yet. "Yes. He took me in the moment I needed help, treated me like his son... He taught me German and introduced me to some nice people over there. One of them reminded me a lot of you. And wouldn't you be suprised if I told you his name was also Alphonse?" Al Heidrich had been one of Ed's better friends.

"Was he like a brother to you?"

This question came as a shock to poor Ed. He didn't know exactly how he should answer it, because he didn't know how his younger brother would react if he told him that Al Heidrich had been like a replacement... At least until he could see the real Al again.

"Only somewhat. He had a brother already. Besides Al, no one could ever replace you." Edward reached over and pulled his sibling into another strong embrace.

"That's good to know, brother." Al hugged him back, and the two fell asleep together, dreaming of the good old days.

---

Still in the kitchen having a heated discussion, Winry and Izumi sat, looking sternly at one another. Winry had her new reasons to worry about Edward, and Izumi didn't seem as though she knew to well how to deal with him either.

"So do we tell Al?"

"No. We can't. Just make sure they stay in the same room as each other for most of the time. Don't give Al reasons to leave, but give him as many reasons as you can to stay and accompany Ed in just about everything he does. We need to make sure they stay near to each other, or I fear that Ed could become a full sin soon. Trust me, we don't want that."

Winry nodded in affirmation. It surely was turning out to be a questionable day.

A/N- Super long chapter because I had nothing better to do, and I already have reviews. Yay! Keep them coming, guys! Thank you!


	3. Sickness

A/N- Glad to see people like the story! On to chapter 3!

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 3- Sickness

Izumi was already awake, sitting downstairs on the living room couch contemplaiting what to do about the situation at hand. Whenever Al left the room his brother was in, Edward would take on the personality of a homunculus trying to overtake his body. It couldn't stay like this forever. Alphonse wouldn't be able to follow Ed around for years upon years. It just couldn't happen. So what would they do about Ed? So many questions...

She was jerked out of her thoughts by Al's now quiet voice entering her mind. "Sensei, can I talk to you?" Izumi shot up, probably worrying Al with the expression on her face changing from concentration to fear.

"Where's your brother?" Al looked at her timidly, thinking he might have done something wrong, or something to anger his teacher. "Well?"

"Sleeping... Is that bad?" Everything was okay. Izumi shook her head, and motioned for him to sit down next to her. "Sensei, there's something wrong with him... Something wrong with Ed." Al's eyes closed a little, and for a second, Izumi thought he might finally let the tears come out. But it passed over, and Al continued with his explanation. "He talks funny, and it's like his body heat just... Disappeared. I'm worried about him."

Unsure of what to say, Izumi pulled the younger Elric into an embrace. When she let go, he was giving her a blank stare, almost as though he knew she had some idea pertaining to what was happening to Edward.

"Maybe he still doesn't know how to react to the situation he's in. It must be very hard. You remember what I told you, about the stories from across the gate, where they're not allowed to use alchemy? They speak a strange language, and aren't very fond of strangers. And after all of these years, he saw your father. That was probably the hardest thing for him to take in, that his father was still alive and well, and no matter how much he didn't want to, he had to accept it." Alphonse nodded his head lightly.

"I'm sure that's Ed, but he seems so different."

---

Al was rushed back into the bedroom not long after his conversation with Izumi, and there was no explanation given to him as to why they would worry about the brothers being in seperate rooms. Ed was still sleeping.

"Brother?" Al had to admit, it was a little lonely in that room without his brother to talk to. "Brother, are you awake yet?" He wasn't. "Ed?" Finally, Edward began to stir from underneath the large blanket.

"Mmm..." When 'Ed' opened his eyes to stare at his younger brother, Al gasped and fell backwards, tripping on the rug below him and hitting his head on the bedpost. "Al? You okay?" Ed shot out of bed and stepped over, leaning down to look at his young sibling.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Everything looked normal now. What had happened? Al was so pale, laying on the ground staring at his brother in confusion.

"Al, what's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost or something?" Edward pulled Al up, who thanked him and reassured him there was nothing wrong, when really, so much was wrong.

---

Once downstairs for breakfast, the entire household was bringing up random conversations right and left. Izumi would need to be getting back to her own home soon, Rose was talking about her son being schooled by Winry, and Winry was trying to have a conversation with Ed. "And I was thinking, maybe you and Al should hang around here for a while longer?"

"I dunno... Al, you want to?" Al didn't answer.

"Of course he wants to stay! He loves it here, don't you Al?" Winry placed her hand on Al's head and patted him, leaving it there only until he wretched away from her in extreme pain. "What's wrong?"

"He hit his head when he fell over this morning. Nothing too bad." Winry looked at Ed in alarm.

"He fell over!"

"Yeah... I think he was a little suprised when I woke up or something."

"Oh."

Al had been suprised all right, he thought to himself, trying to ignore Ed and Winry's conversation as he remembered what he'd seen that morning. When his elder brother had opened his eyes, they hadn't been normal. The pupils were extremely small, and fading away in color. Still, Alphonse wasn't sure if what he'd seen had been his imagination, something he'd seen when he hit his head, or if it was real. What was happening to his brother?

---

Chores were a hassle, but they had to be completed. It was part of living at the Rockbell house. Al's job for the day wasn't really what you would call a job. It was more like, "Watch your brother and make sure he doesn't leave your sight." The only time Al let Ed leave his sight was when he needed to use the bathroom, but no longer than that. It seemed to Al that, as long as Edward was around him, he acted perfectly normal. But what about this morning?

"Hey Al..." The voice came from off to his left, and Alphonse turned to stare at his older brother. Earlier he'd been in fear, but now he just had to give Ed a smile as he watched him examining a purple flower. This was so unlike him. "They didn't have this color in Germany."

"What's Germany?" Ed gave him a smirk, pushed himself up, and looked to his younger brother, then smiled.

"Germany is the place on the other side of the gate. I was at a place in Germany called Munich, where we spoke a different language. It took a while, but you could say I got used to the place, I guess... Dad wasn't of much help." Al was staring at Ed in confusion. Normally, Edward wouldn't want to talk about such personal matters with anyone, whether it was Al he was conversing with or not, but now, everything just seemed so different around him... "And Alphonse Heidrich was a good friend of mine."

"You said he was a replacement, though?" Ed flinched.

"Only sort of... Like I said, he already had a brother, and he ended up a little angry at me after a while."

"How come?"

"Because... One day, when I wouldn't stop staring at him, he walked over to me and asked what I saw when I looked at him. And to be honest... I really only saw you. I needed someone when you weren't there, and... I really wish I could apologize to him. He was one of the only nice people in that God forsaken city."

"Oh..."

It was now that Al was trying to re-establish a relationship with his brother, and it was good to know that Ed had always thought about him, even across the gate. Maybe he'd never given up either, and maybe that was why he'd found his way back to Amestris without too much of a problem. It still hurt to think that Ed had created a replacement for Al. Whenever he looked at Al now, did he see this other Heidrich person? Did he also think of him as a brother now? Ed noticed Al thinking deeply, and emitted a taken aback look. In all honesty, he was worried.

There was much more wrong with Ed than anyone ever could have explained. Ed didn't even realize it yet.

---

"Hey, Ed, could you hand me that book over there?" Ed reached over to a book on automail and pointed to it. "Yes, that one." He picked it up, and handed it to Al, who handed it to Winry. "Thank you."

Everything in the living room was quiet, especially the three residents that occupied it. Winry was busy with her reading up on automail, Al was entertaining himself by staring at the fireplace, and Ed was trying to think of something to say to his brother. To be honest, he was worried Al was angry with him for some reason, and even though there was no evidence of this, he would still try to remedy the situation as best he could.

"So, Al, I was wondering if..." Ed stopped momentarily, watching his brother go into a coughing fit. "Al? Al...?" Al was left coughing until he could hardly breathe, and when he brought himself back upwards to look around the room, there was sweat running down his face, and his eyes were closed. Winry was imediately up off the chair and running for the upstairs. Ed was furious. Was she really going to leave his brother alone like this, when he needed help? Either way, Ed bent down to where Al was slouched on the floor, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"Edward!" Izumi yelled, coming down the stairs at a high rate of speed. She jumped about three of them, landing upright. "You'll make it worse!"

"What!" Ed asked angrily. Why shouldn't he be able to comfort his younger brother, and how was he honestly making it worse? His question was answered when Al began to hyperventilate. Ed jerked away. "Sensei, what's wrong with him!"

"Winry, get him some water!" Izumi turned back to Ed, and motioned for him to come over to where she was. He did, like an obediant puppy in need of food. She motioned for him to sit down next to her on the other couch in the room. He did. "Listen Ed..." Izumi was speaking very quietly, and Ed decided he wouldn't ask why. "There's something we haven't told you, much less your brother yet."

"What?" For some reason, Ed was getting a really bad feeling about this in his stomach. Izumi sighed, depressively, and begain to talk once more.

"I know you sacrificed yourself to bring you brother back, and for so many years you were stuck across on the other side of that gate, but... I'm sorry to say there was some misjudgement on your part."

"What do you..." Izumi stopped him.

"Your brother was brought back from the other side of the gate, but the price you paid wasn't enough..."

"How can that be! He's here now!"

"Yes, but Ed, his soul... Is rejecting the vessel." Ed stared at his sensei, mouth opened wide and gaping, eyes large, shaking in fear. Had he done something wrong with the transmutation?

A/N- Haha! Cliff hanger! Chapter 4 could either be up later tonight or tomorrow night. Please review!


	4. Abuse

A/N- Suspenseful! Here's chapter 4. This is kinda sad near the end... I hope everyone has a heart for poor Ed AND poor Al! They're so adorable! (Hugs)

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 4- Abuse

How could Ed have ever expected or prepared for something like this to happen? As he stared at his sensei, almost lifelessly, she pulled him into an embrace, probably afraid of what his reaction would be. She knew Edward would want to do something about it, but they couldn't take him away from Al. He would go back to being that... That... Thing. Whatever he was becoming.

"Edward, I'm sorry."

Somehow, his sensei's voice was at least a little bit comforting. Ed felt like he could cry. It was all his fault. He _had _misjudged how much of a sacrifice he would need to make, and maybe simply going across the gate wasn't enough. "How long has he been like this?"

"Ever since he came back. There hasn't been a day where he hasn't had this problem yet."

That answer would be good enough for right now. Ed knew he would find a way to help his brother. He had to, after all, it was his fault any of this had ever happened in the first place.

---

That night, Ed decided he'd need to confront his little brother on the current situation. Al was laying in the bed across the room, probably trying to fall asleep, and avoid his brother in the process. "Al?" He rolled over, ignoring Ed's request. "Al, you awake?" Still, he ignored him. Ed couldn't take anymore, walking over to where his brother was trying to rest, and laying down in the small space next to him. "I know you're up." Al sighed in defeat, and rolled over to face his elder brother.

"Yeah... What do you want?"

"Well, you're my brother." Ed tried to look happy, but the emotion was quickly fading from his face. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" In honesty, Al felt tears come to his eyes. Finally, after all of this time, he actually thought he might cry. But he didn't.

"Am I?" Ed was a little taken aback. The way Al had said that reminded him of one of their fights from all those years ago. In fact, it had been on the exact same day as his sixteenth birthday, when Al had questioned ever even existing at all. "If you really think of me as a brother, and if everyone else really does acknowledge my existance, why do they act like they're hiding something from me?" Now the smile on Ed's face dissapeared completely. He sighed.

"Listen Al, I think the reason they don't tell you anything is because they don't know how to word it. If they had any idea... I'm sure they would..." Ed stopped talking, halted by the sounds of his brother beginning to sob into his pillow. Aside from that, there was silence. "Hey... What's wrong with you?"

"All that time you were gone, Winry told me she would do her best to act like a replacement for you. If she was truly trying to act like you, she'd tell me what was wrong, wouldn't she? Wouldn't you?" For a few moments, Ed had to contemplaite what he would say next. He couldn't just tell Al what was the matter without crying himself, so he stayed silent. "Why won't anyone tell me anything! What's wrong with me! There's no way anyone could be sick for this long with just a cold..."

Inside, Ed felt his heart breaking. He worried about what would happen to his brother if something wasn't done soon. He decided to answer this question with another question.

"If you really wanted me to tell you what I know, you would answer my question. Why did you fall backwards earlier? I know it wasn't just an accident." Al stayed silent, playing on the fact that he knew he didn't have to answer. After waiting a minute, Ed finally spoke, realizing he wasn't going to get the answer anytime soon. He sighed. "Fine then." Edward crawled away slowly, and retreated to the other side of the room, where he depressively laid down in his own bed.

Though Al had stopped crying, Ed silently continued on for him.

---

Morning came, and Al awoke before his older brother, as usual. Things hadn't gone so well the previous night, and he knew he should probably apologize to Ed for being such a jerk, but still, Edward could have at least tried to tell him what was going on. Didn't he have a right to know when he was the one suffering from it?

He shivered as he pushed the door open and stepped out into the cold hallway. Autumn was definately here, which meant Winter would come soon afterward. As Al walked down the hallway, he heard talking coming from one of the rooms. This room belonged to Izumi.

"Something has to be done... We can't just let him suffer like this! Please, Izumi, tell me you know something!" Winry's voice could be heard through the crack in the door. Al slowly peaked his head around the corner, and began to watch the incidents taking place from within his sensei's room. Poor Winry was sitting at a table across from Izumi, practically crying. She looked so miserable.

"I'm sorry, Winry. He can last for a while longer while I do some more reasearch. I just hope he doesn't figure out the reasons I keep returning home..."

"We can't give up! Maybe we just need to go to a larger source of information!" Izumi could be heard sighing, and a chair was pushed in as she stood up.

"The only other place I can think of to do that kind of research is the library in Central, and the only way to get into that library is with..." Winry looked at her, and was about to finish the sentence, when Izumi spoke up. "A state alchemist. And luckily for us, we have one at our disposal." Al didn't like that, how Izumi had said _disposal._ What were they planning to do with Ed?

"You mean Edward..."

"Precisely. We just need to get him into the library, then back out again. But how we do this is just extremely questionable..." What could be so hard, Al thought. Why couldn't Ed just run into the library, grab whatever book these two were talking about getting, and run back out again? His question was answered within the next few seconds, and Alphonse was very shocked.

"Al can't go into the library with him, can he?" Winry asked.

"No... And if Al leaves him alone he's going to forget what we want him to do. After we find some sort of help for his younger brother, Ed's our next project. And no, Winry, I have no idea where you find information on how to stop sins from taking soul less bodies. It might have been a little easier if I knew what happened to Ed when he came across that gate, but I don't."

Al stepped backwards, away from the door, disbelieving of the words he'd just heard his sensei speaking. Not only was something seriously wrong with him, but Ed was... They couldn't have said his soul was gone. He acted perfectly sane!

These were the beliefs of the younger Elric until he heard screaming coming from the bedroom where his brother was. Before he could get out of the way, the door was flung open, and out stepped Izumi and Winry. Izumi looked a little frightened when she saw him sitting on the ground, after just barely dodging out of the way from the swinging door. "How long have you been here?"

"I was just walking by when I heard Ed screaming," Al lied. Izumi believed it, and within seconds went running for the guest bedroom where Edward had just been slumbering peacefully. Alphonse and winry ran after her. What the younger brother saw, he would never forget. Never.

'Ed' was backed over to the window, clawing at it and trying to push it open while he screamed his lungs out, speaking in some weird language none of the three people watching him could understand. That was about what Al saw before Izumi shoved him out the door, slamming it behind her. Although Alphonse knew he probably shouldn't have, he started pounding on the door. He wanted to know what was going on with his brother.

"Edward!" Winry yelled. He turned and stared, hearing a name he knew inside wasn't his. At least this got him to start speaking in English. "Edward, what's wrong?" 'Ed' shivered, standing next to the now open window. It was cloudy, raining, and windy outside.

"Ed...Ward?" 'Ed' asked, looking at Winry confused. His eyes had no pupils this time around. Winry nodded at him, cautiously getting closer.

"Yes, your name is Edward." She reached her hand out to him, and he examined it, even more confused than before. "Come on." He reached forward just a little. "Yeah, it's okay..." Without warning, 'Ed' grabbed her arm, yanked her forward, and sent her to the ground, screaming. He practically jumped on top of Winry, both screaming and kicking as he tried to punch the living hell out of her. He was scared.

"Winry!" Izumi finally came away from the door, and Al forced it open.

"Eh... Ed?" He asked, in a relatively squeaky and quiet voice. Ed continued ripping and tearing at Winry as Izumi tried to pull him off. Winry already had a cut across her eye, probably had a broken wrist, and maybe even a black eye. "Ed, stop!" Alphonse ran over to his brother, kneeling down and throwing his arms around him, tear stricken again as Edward finally began to stop. The pupils returned to his eyes slowly, and he first looked down to Winry, mouth gaping. He knew.

"I... I... Did I..." He looked at Izumi, who nodded, and pulled him up off the floor, out of Al's grasp. "Winry, I'm..." Winry pushed herself up with one arm.

"It's okay, Ed," She said, holding a few more tears back as she pushed herself to her feet, and left the room quickly to go get some help from Rose.

"What happened to me?" Ed asked.

"Edward, just don't worry about it for right now. I want you to stay here with your brother while I make a call." And with that, Izumi marched out of the room, and could be heard going down the stairs from where the two Elric brothers were standing.

Ed fell to the floor, tears finally able to be seen by his younger brother as he fell to his knees and cried. "Ed..." Al probably wouldn't have shown compassion, but now that he knew what Ed was becoming, he leaned down next to him, brought him into an embrace, which the elder brother returned, and cried with him, both lost in their own problems.

A/N- Oooh, what's gonna happen? Wanna take a guess? lol I think I made it obvious. Please review!


	5. Runaway

A/N- Okay, so I hope everyone's feeling at least a little remourse for poor Ed and Al. Moving on...

Warning: (Nothin bad, don't worry.) Chapters from here on out get MUCH longer. I'm trying to come to a plot within ten chapters, and yes, I will release chapter nine and the epilogue together OR PEOPLE WILL BE ANGRY WITH ME! Can't say anymore or I'll give it away...

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 5- Runaway

It was later on in the day when Izumi announced that she, Winry, Ed, and Al would be taking a trip to Central later. It would take a few days by train, but that didn't matter. Alphonse needed some advice from someone who would hopefully know all about medicines, and Edward needed some serious help, no matter who they had to ask.

"Edward, could you make sure that when we go to Central you stay with your brother at **all **times, please?" Ed nodded, looking guiltily at the dinner Winry had set on the table in front of him after having to bandage all of her wounds. He couldn't quite say he'd known what he was doing at the time, even though Izumi had begged for him to try to control himself. As Ed still had no idea what was wrong with him, Al had no idea what his sickness had originated from yet, either.

"Here, Ed..." Edward looked up just in time to see a large glass of milk placed down in front of him. He cringed, staring up at the figure who'd bothered to even try to get him to drink that foul tasting... Crap. Winry saw the look on his face, and had known long before she'd even poured the milk into the glass that he would make such a disgusted look in an attempt to get out of drinking it. "Please, Ed. Do it for me?" Looking at the swollen wrist of poor Winry, and knowing it was his fault, Ed sighed, and drank the glass down with a single gulp. "Thank you."

"Yeah, it's not a problem..." Winry sighed to herself. She'd never heard Edward use such a timid tone of voice in all of her life. She hadn't even thought Ed was capable of sounding frightened of her, with the exception of when she took out her wrench. Alphonse had become just as bad, staring at his brother, almost like he was examining him all the way through, and could see right where the soul would have gone had it not been missing.

"Al, are you and your brother all packed for the train ride yet?" Izumi asked. Alphonse nodded, wishing everyone would just leave him alone for a while. "Good. We'll be leaving in about an hour, so make sure you have everything." Before Al stood up to go inspect the luggage, he took one more look at his sad brother, who was morely playing with his food than eating it. Though he wanted to, truly wanted to believe that Ed would be alright, something just told Al otherwise. What kind of normal person had an absense of pupils, and beat people up without meaning to? His line of vision quickly caught the ground when Ed finally noticed him staring. There was no happiness in his face. No feeling. His body held no warmth, his eyes held no emotion, his voice had become monotonous.

In the corner, Izumi thought to herself, quietly looking at the elder Elric, trying to memorize the many details about him that had changed over the past five years, and the other details that had changed in the past couple of days. Although she didn't want to admit it, to Winry or to Al, she knew there was probably no way to return Ed to a previous form, Philosopher's stone in hand or not.

---

On the train ride, Winry had to admit, the car was a little crammed up. It really shouldn't have been, but she just felt a lack of happiness in the air around her. Sure, things weren't going very good lately, having two brothers, both with broken souls, in the seat opposite of her, but they looked so cute in the positions they were in...

Ed was leaned up against the window, probably sleeping. He must have been exhausted now that it was eleven at night. His arm was around his younger brother, who's head rested on Ed's knees, legs propped up covering the remainder of the seat. They truely were brothers, alright, and they had one of those remarkable relationships it was extremely difficult to have with a sibling. Winry envied them. After all, they had always related to her as an older sister they could go to when they needed help. And speaking of which, just who's house were they staying in? The thoughts made her want to laugh to herself, until she remembered what kind of situation they were in.

Izumi couldn't be described as anything more than unhappy. Winry couldn't blame her. She had a lot to worry about, what with finding a 'cure' for Al, and then maybe figuring out what was wrong with Ed.

Speaking of those two again, they had been sleeping peacefully until the train hit a bump. Edward flew forward, landing almost on Winry's lap, face planted in the seat between the two girls sitting across from him. Al was laying on the floor after again hitting his head on the wall. "Somebody needs to make these seats more stable," Ed whined into the seat as Winry laughed to herself. Izumi just didn't want anyone to be happy.

"Stop whining. We're almost to Cenral." And with a cold look at all three of the passengers in the compartment, Izumi turned back to the window, only to stare at the rain drops planting themselves against it.

---

Central. One of the places Ed hated most, because of that one person who always, always, always had to screw up his plans. Always. And of all the horrible times for this person to get a promotion and become the Fuhrer... Yes, it was Roy Mustang. Winry would have to say they were having a hell of a time getting Ed to follow them into the large military headquarters located here at Central. He acted just like a baby.

"No! I don't want to see that jerk! He's going to act even more high and mighty and be like, 'Guess what Ed! I'm the Fuhrer now!' Then, he's going to look down and be like, 'Ed, where'd you go? Sorry! You're so small I lost you!' I hate that guy!" Edward was so caught up in making comments about the new Fuhrer that he didn't notice Izumi giving him a large glare of death. Al was laughing to himself while Winry pulled him along through the streets, holding a very threatening looking wrench in her opposite hand. Finally, they reached that huge building that was so familiar to Ed.

"Come on Edward, don't be a baby," Winry said, dragging Ed into the building as he clawed at everything he could get his hands on, afraid to see Roy. The inside of the military headquarters was very large and formal looking. It brought back such memories to the elder Elric, but not his younger brother.

Izumi walked up to the desk, where no one was currently present. This was suprising, this being a military headquarters and all, one would think someone would be there at all times. "I don't understand this. I called ahead to make sure we could see the Fuhrer, but where is everybody..." Izumi's question was interupted by an exceedingly familiar voice. Or at least it was pretty familiar to Ed.

"Good to see you again, Fullmetal. I did believe we'd lost you for a number of years." Roy, eyepatch covering the right side of his face, had stepped out into the open with a number of equally familiar subordinates following him. A blonde haired woman, followed by two blonde men and another woman with brown hair were standing behind their Fuhrer. Ed recognized all of them, but even if he did, Roy reintroduced them anyway.

First off, he pointed to the blonde female. "This is, as I'm sure you remember Edward, Riza Hawkeye." Ed nodded, and figured it would be best not to wave. Riza never did seem like the fun loving type. He next pointed to the brunette female and the two blonde males. "First lutenites Maria Ross, Denny Bloch, and Jean Havoc."

For some reason, to Ed, and probably everyone else standing in the room, Havoc always looked miserable, as though in strong beliefs God hated him. It could have been the fact that he couldn't seem to get a girlfriend, or maybe he just hated himself. Either way, that look was always on his face. "So I'm taking it you needed something, Mrs. Curtis?" Roy asked, showing as much respect to Ed and Al's sensei as he could. She nodded.

"Yes. We needed use of the library here in Central for a few reasons I'd really appreciate that we could discuss somewhere else. They're not objects to be open about."

"I see," Roy replied, in that low voice that seemed to have a very deranged effect on all people. "Well certainly we could discuss this elsewhere, but you don't really need my permission to enter the library... Or at least Edward doesn't." Izumi looked carefully from Roy to Ed, then to Roy, then down to Al, and back to Roy again. He seemed to notice she was trying to tell him something. "But clearly if you need to talk to me about it I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"Very well. Winry, stay here with those two." Roy, Izumi, and all of the lutenites were off, up the stairs, probably to Roy's office.

---

For the past few moments that Izumi had been gone, Edward had done nothing but complain of how much he absolutely despised the military headquarters, a great deal of the staff inside of it, and quite plainly, anyone who enjoyed the experience of visiting the horrible building. Therefore, he was having quite a problem with Winry that day. She was having a blast.

"You have books on mechanics at the central library? You have a list! Oh my God! Ed, you've just gotta get me some of those! You've just gotta! Oh, please, Ed, it'll further my career so much! Please, please, please!" The begging went on and on. She didn't shut up.

"Yes Winry, I'll get you some books on prosthetic limbs and automail, okay?" Edward had repeated those words over, and over again, but no matter how many times he said them, Winry only begged for more. It got even worse when she looked at the list and announced that she wanted almost every book having anything to do with automail. Great, what a day this would turn out to be. Ed would never get out of the library with just the book for his brother. It seemed finally, after all of Winry's ramblings, that the two twenty-one-year olds noticed quiet, withdrawn, self entertained Al.

Winry knelt down next to him on the floor, though he was sitting on a bench and was that much higher than her to begin with. "Hey, what's wrong?" When Al raised his head to look at her, he looked like he could cry. This was very strange for a fifteen year old. Winry hadn't seen Al cry yet, though Ed, supressing thoughts in the corner had. Al didn't answer her at first. "Al? Are you okay?" He shook his head violently and waited for her reaction.

"I don't feel very good right now," He replied. Edward imediately raised his head, stood up, and walked over to join his younger brother and Winry. Ed sat down next to Al and put his arm around him, like he expected a good older brother would do. Edward hadn't been there for five years and he figured it was time he started treating his younger brother at least a little better than he had been.

"Don't worry, Izumi should be done soon," Winry said, looking around her, anxiously. Although no one had noticed it until now, Al was continuously getting worse. Every passing day took a little more out of his soul. It was too bad no one realized this.

"Maybe if you eat something you'll feel a little better," Ed suggested. Al shook his head again.

"I'd rather just take a nap or something, but I don't want to bother anyone about it." Edward would not see his brother suffer like this, and if anyone ever made the mistake of thinking he would, they'd better guess again, or run and hide before they were murdered. Winry nodded in agreement to Al's statement, and Ed just sighed, trying to think of some alternative to the situation at hand.

"It won't be any trouble for them. At least it had better not be..." Ed said, standing up and walking over towards the desk. Winry watched as he did so. Though neither of them could see it, Al was smiling at his older brother, happy that someone was there for him.

---

"That's impossible."

Roy slammed his hand down on the desk in his office, causing unsigned paperwork to fly about the room. Izumi kept her head down. She didn't want to believe what was happening was true, but even without more research... This was the only logical answer to the way things had been working out.

"I honestly don't want to believe you, but given the circumstances of the medical records..." He motioned to a small stack of papers that had come out of Izumi's pockets just mere moments before. It was the proof of Al's persisting illness which did not wish to make a departure so soon. From the way things were going, the illness would either take his life, or the soul would leave his body long before he reached the age of eighteen. Therefore, he didn't have a whole lot longer to live. "Of course I'll let you have access to the library."

"I won't need to go to the trouble of having Al lead Edward around in there?" Izumi questioned, hoping the answer would be a no.

"There's no need. I'll call now and tell them you're coming." Roy turned to the phone, and had already picked it up before setting it back down again and turning to Izumi. "But you haven't explained to me yet why it's such a problem to have Ed go in there and get a book for you. Doesn't he know of his brother's illness?" Izumi nodded, afraid to speak, or maybe looking for a way to explain such an issue to the Fuhrer without scaring him too much. "Then what's the problem?" She didn't answer right away. There was a moment's silence, as Roy waited for a response. Finally, one came.

"Edward has been having some issues lately," Izumi stated as Roy gave her his full attention. "You realize you pay a price to cross the gate, correct?" She didn't even wait for a nod before continuing on in her sentence. "Something happened to him when he crossed that gate, something horrible that I can't explain. The only logical answer I can come up with is that..." She paused again.

"That what?" A concerned glare was shot Izumi's way as she gave a heavy sigh and finished up her statement.

"A Homunculi is attempting to take over Edward's body, and this is made possible through the fact he sacrificed his soul to return to this side of the gate. Once more through, and he'll have nothing left." Roy was left speechless, mouth wide open and eyes wide as he just about went into a shock from the words he was hearing.

---

Downstairs, things weren't going quite as smoothly as they had been earlier. Especially not in Edward's case. It was safe to say that as he was journeying up to Roy Mustang's office, he was at the ready to murder someone that day, no matter who it had to be. Never in his life had he heard someone disrespect his brother by saying they didn't want him there. No one had ever said that.

Then again, the man standing at the desk must have been new. Edward couldn't recognize him if his life depended on it. But damn, this guy was just asking for it, and Ed was going to go straight to the source of fixing all his problems. The Fuhrer.

He was walking down the hallway quickly, Winry hurrying to keep up, tugging at Al's arm so he wouldn't get seperated from his older brother. Things would not be good if Ed and Al got seperated that day. They were at least keeping up until Al had to stop, holding his stomach and falling to the ground, coughing. Winry sat down next to him. "You okay?" She asked, and got nothing but coughing as an answer. It was then that she realized... "Edward!" She yelled down the hallway, but he was already long gone.

Izumi had dodged out from under the door before it went swinging off its hinges and landed at the Fullmetal Alchemist's feet. His right leg had given that a good kick, meaning that Ed was not about to take any shit from anyone that day.

"So Mustang, there a reason I can't..." Ed stopped abrubtly, regular, paced breathing turning to a more fast pace, almost as though he were hyperventilating.

"Edward..." Izumi strained herself to walk over to the elder Elric, though she knew it would do no good. Ed had put his head down, so his long bangs were covering his face, and his eyes. When he brought himself back up, Izumi noticed just what she had been dreading. The pupils had dissapeared, and Edward looked dangerous, like a rabid animal staring at some poor helpless underlings.

Before she could bring herself to move, Izumi was laying on the ground, coughing up more blood than she usually did, and it was probably for the reason she had an unsharpened pencil shoved through her stomach. How this was possible, she was unsure, but it hurt like hell. It was lucky that Winry came into the room right then, dragging Al along behind her. Winry cringed at what she saw.

"Izumi! Ed...!" She looked at the golden eyed alchemist standing in front of her, examining her with interest.

When Al stepped into the room, more than one thing caught his eye. The first was of course, his sensei laying on the ground with a pencil shoved through her stomach, but the second was a document on his illness, which, he somehow managed to catch the only important word on the entire paper. Terminal. Al didn't really have to do anything, and even if he was supposed to, he was too taken aback. Edward caught sight of him, and his eyes returned to normal, his breathing rate decreased, he took a deep breath, and stared down at Izumi. "I...I...I..." It was the same as last time. He noticed Winry, backing away from him and hitting the wall as a result, but he also noticed Al, looking at him with huge, frightened eyes. "Al... I... I didn't do this! You have to believe me! Please! I'm your brother!" He rested a hand on Al's shoulder, hoping that someone would accept he could never have done this on his own free will. Alphonse Elric's thoughts were elsewhere as he pushed his older brother's arm away, and ran over to near where Winry was, by the doorway.

"You're not my brother!" Al spat back at him, glaring at Winry as well. "If everyone in this room cares about me so much, then why didn't they tell me I was gonna die!" Al yelled, running out of the room at an exceedingly fast speed.

"Al!" Winry yelled after him, and then realized something else... "Oh no..." She whimpered. Not too long afterwards, there was a broken window in the room from where the once Fullmetal Alchemist had broken it, and used it as an escape route. Roy stood up in disbelief.

"What a mess."

A/N- I told you they were longer! They're longer, aren't they? Well, please review!


	6. The Missing

A/N- Okay, one thing I forgot to mention that I'm REALLY sorry I forgot to mention is that this story may have spoilers, depending on how many episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist you've actually seen. Now don't get me wrong, I've only seen the first season, but I've read about everything else. If something's off I'm REALLY sorry. This chapter's shorter than the last one, but I promise THERE IS A METHOD TO THIS MADNESS! Oh God there are two Ed's in this chapter, and if you don't understand where I'm going with it either A)You haven't seen the entire first season, B)I'm bad at writing, or C)You just made a little mistake and forgot something. I forgive you.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 6- The Missing

With both Edward and Alphonse missing, things weren't going so well at the military headquarters located in Central that day. Izumi had been transfered to a hospitol, and once she'd had the pencil removed, she'd absolutely refused to stay for any longer than she had to. Therefore, she was out of there after about two hours. The Fuhrer had sent a search team out, but neither of the Elric's had been found yet.

"Somehow I should've known this would happen," Izumi said to herself, sighing in defeat. "I can't believe this..."

"Don't blame yourself. You had no idea how to control this to begin with, and it's not going to do you any good to punish yourself over it." Izumi had to admit, Winry had a point as she sat there next to her, probably just as worried about the Elric brothers as she was, if not more. "Roy, was it?" Roy nodded at the young blonde sitting in front of him. "Shouldn't we maybe go out there and look for ourselves if no one finds them? I can't just sit here and wait like this. For all we know, Al could be..." She couldn't finish her sentence, so it was a good thing Roy understood exactly what she was talking about.

"I suppose we could." He turned to Havoc. "Lutenite Havoc, if you could please drive."

"Yes sir," Havoc replied.

---

"Where... Am... I...?" 'Ed' had come to stop on top of a building a few streets west of the Military Headquarters. Where was he, indeed. Where were the people he remembered seeing so very long ago, or at least what felt like so very long ago? The blonde girl he'd thought was pretty could probably have been of some help by now... Or had he killed her? He couldn't remember.

Either way, he could hear gun shots richocheting off the wall behind him, so, being the sin he was turning into, he jumped off the roof, and landed gracefully on his feet when he reached the ground. Throwing his red trench onto a trashcan lid, he took off, looking for where the bullets were coming from.

He came to a corner, and took it sharply. When he stopped, he was eye to eye with a somewhat familiar person, not holding a gun, but dangerous none the less. "Finally... Chasing after you is just as hard as it used to be." 'Ed' looked upwards at the taller figure, and finally recognized him. His brother. "Honestly, I know I never told you to come to Central, but you showing up here is... Just a bit less than a miracle."

"I apologize," 'Ed' replied timidly, looking at his superior. "What must I do?"

"Well..." The figure jumped on top of a box, making himself look even more intimidating than he already was to the shorter figure standing below him. "I figured we could follow some basic instincts. You take care of the Fuhrer, I've got to do some work of my own. You're not to show up unless it's absolutely nessecary, otherwise I don't want you at the building until eight tonight. Capiche?" 'Ed' nodded, and the elder green haired sin gave a smirk. "Go to work."

---

Al wandered the streets. He'd been doing this for a while now, and things weren't getting any easier. He hadn't run into any search partys yet, but he was pretty sure he would soon, and he didn't want that to happen. Then again, where was he supposed to go? This was a nowhere city, where he had no connections to anyone. His only choice would be to go back to the Military Headquarters, but what good would that do? He didn't want to see his brother...

No, Ed wasn't his brother. Yes he was, but at the same time... It made Al's head hurt. He didn't know what to think anymore, not after what he'd seen his brother do, twice now, actually.

He walked along the alleyways, stopping to cough a little now and then, and thinking of what to do. Everything was okay until he thought he heard a voice from behind him, which he did. "Mr. Elric, sir?" Al turned. The lutenite he'd come to know as Denny Bloch was standing behind him, as were some soldiers that were probably sent out to find him. "Please sir, you need to come back to the headquarters with us." Al ran. "Mr. Elric!"

And he ran... And ran... And ran until he stopped abrubtly. Standing in the middle of the alleyway where he needed to go through was... His brother? "Edward?" He asked, a little frightened. What if Ed tried to kill him too? Would Ed really do that? No... He wouldn't. At least Al hoped not.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" Ed replied, sounding in a much better mood than he had been all day. Al smiled. Maybe his brother was back to normal. "Come on. We've got to get away from the Military freaks and go find Winry and Izumi." Something about this sentence didn't sound right to the younger Elric. Weren't they supposed to be going back to the Military Headquarters? Wasn't that where Winry and Izumi were waiting for them?

"Shouldn't we go back to the Headquarters?"

"No. Winry and Izumi sent me here to look for you. We're meeting somewhere near the outside of the city for a little while." Now this really didn't sound right, but if this was Ed, Al decided he should trust him.

---

Ed was having a hell of a time finding his way around Central. "This place fucking sucks..." He said, monotonously. "Where the hell is this place?" Finally he thought he saw it. A large building, probably about as large as the hospitol if not bigger, had the military flag draped over it. This was exactly where he was supposed to be. "Wonderful. Now to find that damn Fuhrer..."

He wandered up at the front desk, probably going to look to see what room the Fuhrer was in. This shouldn't have been so easy, but then again... There was no one at the front desk. A map was placed on the wall, and everyone's offices and rooms were labled. "What idiots."

The window that was still broken in Roy's office served a good purpose for the soon-to-be sin. He broke a few more of the jagged edges off before slipping inside, and taking a look around. The Fuhrer wasn't there. In fact, it seemed like no one was there. "Damnit Envy, I'm gonna kick your ass when I get back. What nerve, sending me here when he probably knew this would happen! They're probably out there chasing after me. Heh."

Ed jumped back out the window, landing nicely on the ground. He stretched, and as he did so, a bullet hit the wall and fell to the ground next to him. Looking up, he saw a brunette, with a bunch of backup soldiers behind her.

Lutenite Maria Ross didn't recognize the Elder Elric. After all, his hair had come out of its usual braid a while ago, his eyes weren't focusing clearly, his leather pants has rips in them left and right, and his red trench coat was missing. Great. This person obviously didn't know what she was dealing with... No, these people didn't know who they were dealing with.

Walking up to the Lutenite, Ed kicked a rock out of the way, trying to emphasize the point that he was in a shitty mood. When he got close, it seemed she finally realized who this was. "Mr... Elric?" Still, being in his current situation, Edward shook his head at her. Why did everyone call him that!

"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else," Ed snarled at her, very angry indeed. She backed away, wondering how this could be. She'd been told to look for a figure that looked exactly like Edward Elric, only without automail, and she'd found him. Ed reached his hand out over the ground, which turned red and black, emitting some weird lights as he dragged a sythe out. Very long and pointy. "My name is Pride." He pointed the sharp end of the scythe at her. "And I would appreciate it if you told me where the Fuhrer was."

"Edward, stop this!" Maria shouted. This wasn't the Edward Elric she'd known so many years ago. This person wasn't even sane! Ed didn't stop. He kept coming closer, and closer, until finally Lutenite Ross decided this wasn't safe. They'd have to shoot him in the leg at least. She pointed her gun, aimed, and fired. It hit dead on.

Ed fell to the ground, dropping his scythe and holding his left leg, which was gushing blood. "Fuck!" He cursed to himself, squeezing the wound to get the bullet to slide out. It did so easily, and he stood up, making a run for his life.

"After him!" And off they went.

---

"Winry, I'm just fine..." Izumi said to the blonde sitting next to her. Winry was obviously worried about the Elrics right now, but then again, who wasn't? With Havoc driving, Riza sitting in the passanger seat, and Roy, Izumi, and Winry in the back, it was a very quiet atmosphere.

"I can't wait for this day to be over," Havoc said from the front seat, completely disregaurding the Fuhrer sitting in the back. Roy ignored him. He knew why Havoc wanted to get back earlier than usual. He'd finally gotten himself a girlfriend, something he usually wasn't very able to do.

"Settle down, Havoc." Riza didn't take her eyes off the side of the streets while she said this. It was a good thing she didn't. "Sir..."

"What is it Luten..." Roy didn't even finish his word. All five of the people who inhabited the car were staring out the window, as Denny Bloch led quite a few soldiers after Edward and Alphonse Elric. Ed was practically dragging his younger brother along, and Al felt like his lungs were going to explode. "Stop the car." Havoc did as he was told, as all of the passangers got out. "EDWARD!" Roy yelled.

Envy turned, looking at just who had yelled the Fullmetal Alchemist's name. Damnit Pride! Why wasn't this guy dead yet! And furthermore, where the hell was Pride! This question was answered when Pride came running down the street, holding his leg while blood dropped to the ground. He ran straight into Envy.

Everything stopped. Everyone else was speechless as the two almost identicle looking Ed's, who would have been identicle had the real Ed not gotten shot in the leg, stared at each other, angrily. Envy signed. "I guess they realize what we're pulling now, don't they?" And he transformed back into himself, with the green hair and purple eyes, waiting for the Fuhrer to say something. Al backed away, frightened.

"You're... Not... Ed!" He didn't get a whole lot more out before he started coughing. This time, blood came out. It was getting worse. A lot worse. Envy yanked him up while he was still coughing, and made sure he was looking straight into his eyes, cowering in fear before he spoke.

"That's right. Your brother is gone. He doesn't exist."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in, for everyone who'd heard this sentence. Al especially. Envy was laughing until he felt a heavy punch hit him in the back of the head. He fell to the ground, as did Al. "What the..."

Standing above him was Ed, eyes returned to normal. "Leave him alone!"

"Damnit Pride..." Envy retorted, pulling a red stone out of his pocket. Edward gasped when he saw what this was. Yes, a real Philosopher's stone. Not an incomplete one, but the real thing. This was bad.

"How did you get one of those!" Envy shook his head, sighed, and shrugged at the elder Elric. He took the stone and held it in front of Edward. It began to glow a brilliant crimson color, meaning it was reacting to something. And all at once, Ed was no longer himself, but back to being the almost sin he was before.

"God only knows how long that'll last for... Maybe one, two hours at most," Envy said, placing it back in his pocket. "Onto bussiness." He grabbed Al by the neck, and took off running with him.

"Well don't just let him get away!" Roy yelled. This should've been obvious. Soldiers went after Envy, but a large wall of rock was soon transmuted in front of them. It had come from Pride. "Edward, what the hell are you doing! He took your brother!"

"Who is Edward?" Pride asked, staring around at everyone. "I suppose I'll be seeing you all later." He practically dissapeared into the ground.

Al was gone.

A/N- Okay maybe it wasn't shorter. Not sure. Too lazy to check. Anyways, please review!


	7. Undeniable Sin

A/N- Very quick updates. I'd rather like to finish this story so I can work on my other two, which have plots in progress (Because I was an idiot and didn't plan ahead when I started them.) So if you're waiting for one of those, I apologize.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 7- Undeniable Sin

Everything was such a mess. Edward had gone on a rampage, ruined a street, and had been trying to kill the Fuhrer, but this was nothing compaired to the shit storm now that he was working for Envy. The elder sin demanded such obscene things, and Pride wasn't allowed to see the younger blonde who was being left in the back room. Envy had explained he needed him for something, but he hadn't said what.

What could Envy possibly want with a dying fifteen-year-old?

"I promise I'll explain everything later, okay?" Envy replied, handing Pride the scythe he'd dropped on the concrete earlier that day. He looked at it guiltily. Envy had been correct in believing that the stone wouldn't be able to control Pride for very long, that in which he was already starting to get a soft side for the people he was supposed to kill. Then again, maybe it was just Al's presence in the building. "I need you to find that Fuhrer."

"What for?" Pride asked, sadly looking up to his elder brother. Envy sighed. This was turning out to be much more difficult than he'd originally thought.

"I told you already, I'll explain everything later!" And with that, Envy gave his younger brother a shove towards the door, which Pride didn't much appreciate. He hesitated. "Go! What's made you so soft?" For some reason, Pride hated being called 'soft.' The only thing he hated being called more than 'soft' was any version of the word 'short.' He walked out the door, slamming it behind him. The building was in such bad shape, that when the door closed, it shook the walls, and a few panes of glass fell out of a window. What a nice place to be.

Envy retreated to the back of the building, where he was keeping Ed's little brother locked in what looked like a large chimera's cage. There was a bit of blood on the floor that had exited Al's lungs when he began to cough, but other than that, the sin kept the place relatively clean. Leaning down to look at his youngest brother, Envy smiled to himself. Things were working out perfectly. Al finally noticed Envy staring at him.

"What do you want?" He spat angrily, eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what they could possibly want with him.

"You'll see soon," Envy replied, sticking his hand through one of the bars and patting Al on the head. The blonde inside of the cage did nothing to guard against this act, since he wasn't feeling up to it. "And I would suggest not worrying too much about your brother. As long as he's under my control, he'll be just fine." Al cringed, finally pulling his head away from the hand resting on top of it.

"I don't care what happens to my brother... Stop treating me like a dog and let me out of this cage," He said, almost too quietly for Envy to hear. Envy pulled his hand out, shaking it off after he did so. He gave the youngest Elric brother a concerned look.

"Sorry, but I've got to keep you in there for our safety. Things might not work out too well if I let you go running off back to Central like some crazed lunatic. Your brother's already going after the Fuhrer as we contemplaite this matter... Speaking of which, I might as well just call him 'our brother,' if you know what I'm saying!" Envy gave Al a huge smile, and Al gave him a digusted look in response. He loathed Envy, despised him, and really hated being related to him. "I should really go prepare our little transmutation circle. We're going to need it, aren't we?" Al's expression changed from digusted, to pure adrenaline pushed fear.

"What transmutation circle? What do you mean we? What are you doing to my brother!" Envy turned around and smiled at Al. Actually, it was more like a smirk.

"Just a little something I need to finish his transformation... And to get yours started, or finished, depending on how you want to look at it. What I need from you will be a relatively short process, rather painless, and don't worry..." Al's eyes had gotten a lot larger by about this time. "You won't have to live to see the distruction your brother is going to cause." Envy walked out after that, leaving Al to sit, alone, with tears running down his face. Why was God ruining his life so much?

---

"Come on, I'm missing my date!" Havoc complained angrily to a very stern looking Roy.

"I would suggest you stop worrying about your girlfriend and help us figure something out," Roy replied, examining a map for all suspicious looking areas. There was no telling whether Envy and Pride had kept Al in Central, or left for somewhere else. It would have been obvious if they'd hopped a train, and no one had seen them at any of the stations that day.

"Maybe we should just ask around town some more," Winry said, relaxing back onto the couch, next to where Havoc was seated with his arms crossed. "I mean to say that if no one has seen them, at least we'll know they're not here in Central."

"Not for sure," Izumi replied.

"I bet they're in that old shack just outside of Central," Havoc said. Roy immediately turned his attention to the lutenite. "You know, that one where all the stoner kids went when they didn't want their parents to find them doing drugs? Must be a lot of kids doing that lately, seeing as there's always a light on in that building." Now everyone was staring at him, wide eyed. Roy actually looked a little angry.

"Havoc, why didn't you say so? We wouldn't have wasted three hours staring at maps if you'd just told us this to begin with, and you might have even been home to your girlfriend by now." At this, Havoc's mouth dropped open as a sweatdrop appeared on his forehead. "You know the way, correct?" Havoc nodded. "Drive us there."

---

God save him. Pride had been wandering through the country outside of Central for about twenty minutes by now, if not longer, and he was really starting to get pissed off. Judging by the fact he didn't even know where Central was, things were not going so well. "Stupid Envy..."

He was wandering around aimlessly on the side of the road until he heard a car coming. Oh great. Better duck down into the grass or they might mistake him for a prostitute, or at least that's what Envy had said about him earlier. What a jerk. Ed made sure he looked as 'pretty' as he could for the people inhabiting the car. He waited, and waited for it to pass him by, but it never did. In fact, it had stopped right next to him.

"Ed... Or... You're Ed right?" Izumi made sure she corrected herself this time. Pride apparently had problems with understanding his other name, and right now wasn't any different. He looked up at her, and cocked one eye. "Edward... Get in the car."

"For the last time, my name is not Edward! My name is Pride! Stop calling me Edward, or Ed, or whatever else you're going to call me! Especially don't call me Chibi! I hate that!" Winry, Roy, and Izumi all gave him an extremely confused and exhausted look. Riza sighed, opened her door, and stepped out of the car, pointing a gun at his head. "Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing!" Pride said, raising his scythe in front of him, almost as though to block a bullet should Riza happen to pull the trigger on him.

"Fullmetal sir, whether we call you that or not is up to us. You do realize you're speaking with the Fuhrer's secretary right now?" Ed stared at Riza, then looked in the car to discover that, yes, Roy was sitting there, looking at him.

It happened all at once. A tire was blown out on the car as soon as Ed swung his scythe at point blank, and a window was broken when he dodged one of Riza's shots. Roy was shoved over to the right side as Winry motioned for him to leave through the other door. He did just that, followed by Winry and Izumi, then Havoc as he slammed his door behind him. They'd just barely cleared the area by the time Pride tipped the car over.

"Alright, Pride..." Izumi paused for a second. Pride didn't fit this character at all... Or was she just trying to convince herself it didn't? "We're not trying to hurt you. We just need you to find your brother. He's in a very bad situation right now. You realize he's going to die if we don't do something, don't you?" Pride looked at her, with wide eyes. She realized she wasn't getting her point across they way she wanted to. "I mean Al. Your little brother, Al." The name Al... Now that rang a bell, somewhere in that thick skull of Pride's.

"Al? Brother?" Pride remembered now...

_That night, Ed decided he'd need to confront his little brother on the current situation. Al was laying in the bed across the room, probably trying to fall asleep, and avoid his brother in the process. "Al?" He rolled over, ignoring Ed's request. "Al, you awake?" Still, he ignored him. Ed couldn't take anymore, walking over to where his brother was trying to rest, and laying down in the small space next to him. "I know you're up." Al sighed in defeat, and rolled over to face his elder brother._

_"Yeah... What do you want?"_

_"Well, you're my brother." _

He had called him his brother, hadn't he? How was he remembering this, when he could never remember anything about that blonde teenager before?

Izumi noticed Pride when he fell to the ground, holding his head. It was pounding viciously. She walked over to him, hoping she'd made some sort of connection with the soon to be sin. She had. Quite a connection indeed. Putting a hand on his shoulder, then pulling him up, she took the scythe from the ground next to him and handed it to Havoc. "What do I do with this?"

"Keep it in a safe place so he can't use it." Izumi motioned to Pride just in case Havoc didn't catch the drift. When Pride looked up at her, she decided now was a perfect time to ask for his assistance. "Pride, can you tell us where your brother is?"

"The building over that way," Pride was, sure enough, pointing in the exact direction they'd been going towards. "Both of my brother's are over there, if that other person is my brother..."

"We should get going," Roy interrupted. They began walking.

---

"Pride, you head in first," Izumi said. Pride nodded at her and slunk through the door, quietly. They'd gone over the plan a million times while walking here, and he was determined to make it work out. He had a very large part in the matter. If he screwed up, they'd have to start from scratch, which wouldn't be very easy to do.

"Back so soon?" Envy's voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. Pride nodded. Keeping a guilty look of his face was turning out to be exceedingly easy. "The Fuhrer has been disposed of, then?" Again Pride nodded, and Envy smiled, filled to the brim with contentment. "Very good. I suppose we should get started then." They hadn't discussed this.

"With what?" Pride asked, a little worried about the situation at hand. Envy motioned to the well drawn, and rather large transmutation circle situated at the center of the room. "And what are you using that for?"

"Just stand in the middle of it, and you'll find out," Envy retorted playfully, daring the younger sin to follow his best wishes. Pride didn't, however, move at all. Great, what now? There wasn't anywhere he could go, and he had to distract his elder brother until Roy and Izumi could make it through the back door. He was left with no choice. Pride walked slowly to the center of the circle, and stood there, motionlessly, waiting for Envy to do what he would with him. "Very good. Just relax, and then..."

It was suprising just how quiet two people could be, getting through a back door. Roy stood behind Envy, holding an incomplete Philosopher's stone, which was causing the signs on the sin's skin to illuminate with a brilliant crimson color. "What the hell?" Envy asked, feeling the pain course through his body. He wretched forward, almost falling from his standing position.

---

In the back room, Winry and Havoc had discovered Al within one of the Chimera cages. It looked as though he had either been knocked out, or had simply fallen asleep, but whatever the cause, he was unconscious. "Hand me that crowbar over there," Havoc suggested to Winry, who threw him a crowbar from the corner of the room. He easily broke the lock, and opened the gate, pulling the teen out of the exceedingly cramped area.

Winry ran over, and took Al in her arms, trying her best to bring him to his senses. "Al, please wake up..." She repeated several times. No answer came from the younger Elric, except for a bit of coughing. This left a few splatters of blood on the floor, which brought Havoc to examine the cage where the fifteen-year-old had been held.

"He must be really sick," Havoc announced, pointing a large puddle of blood out to Winry. He must've choked that up earlier.

"We need to get him to a hospitol," Winry replied, trying to drag Al across the room. Havoc stood up, noticing the trouble she was having.

"Let me help." Both of them took an arm, and pulled the youngest Elric out of the room.

---

Back in the main room, Envy was still having some problems as he leaned down on the floor, keeled over from the pain he was feeling on his skin. It was constantly burning, which stung like hell. As if this wasn't enough, Pride had gone up to him, and while he was defenseless, began to beat the shit out of him.

"Pride, stop," Roy said, after awhile. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy seeing Envy get his ass beat, it was more along the lines of him knowing that even if someone did give Envy a lot of cuts or bruises, he'd be able to heal himself. Sure enough, it wasn't too long after Pride had backed away from the elder sin that Envy had stood up, and came towards him at a high rate of speed, very angrily.

"Why did you bring them here!" Envy yelled, pinning his younger brother against the wall and landing a few punches across his jaw. Pride was not so lucky. Being that he wasn't a complete sin yet, he wouldn't be able to heal himself.

"Because you hurt my brother!" Pride spat back at him. Or maybe this wasn't Pride. The eyes looked like Pride's, the tone sounded like Pride's, the warmth was gone, just like Pride's, but this guy wasn't thinking or sounding like Pride at all. Envy wondered...

"I'm your only brother, you idiot. You're a homunculus, you do realize this?" Pride nodded, wondering what point he was getting to. "They have a very talented alchemist with them, you never thought they would implant memories into your brain, now did you?" Was that what the wretching pain had been when Pride had tried to remember Al? Maybe Envy was right... Pride backed away from his older brother, turning to face Roy and Izumi.

"We would never do such a thing!" Roy shouted, trying to convince Pride that they were on his side. Pride took a few steps back, trying to distance himself from Roy and Izumi, who weren't sounding very likable at the moment. It seemed funny how Winry and Havoc just happened to show up in that room, dragging Al along with them. "Get out of here, you two!"

"The only two doors are the ones we came in and the front door right there! What were we supposed to do about it!" Winry questioned angrily. Roy sighed. He hadn't thought of that one.

"You four think you've won, but we have a back up plan," Envy said, only to be treated to four very confused looking faces. Winry looked at the two sins on the other side of the room when she thought she felt something coming from behind her... And sure enough, she turned her head, only to scream at what she saw. Some weird white thing was wrapping around her arm, steadily pulling her backwards, into the darkness.

"Winry!" Izumi yelled, diving after the blonde as fast as she could. She caught hold of Winry's other arm, and pulled. And out of the darkness, along with Winry, came another very recognizable figure, especially to Izumi. It was Wrath. "Wrath, what are you doing here?" Izumi questioned, finally getting Winry untangled from the sin's 'arms.'

"He's here because I told him he was supposed to be here," Envy answered for Wrath. Izumi shot him a disgusted look. "But whatever. Now put the little Elric in the middle of the circle, and everything will be just..." He stopped in mid sentence, feeling extreme pain shooting from his head. A fist had smashed into the top of the sin, and this was the fist of Pride.

A/N- Long, and difficult to write, but worth it! Isn't it? I hope so. Chapter eight might be up tonight or maybe tomorrow. Depends how lazy or active I'm feeling.


	8. Equivalent Exchange

A/N- Okay so last night I got lazy... Here's chapter eight. Nine and ten (epilogue) should be up tomorrow night since I'm putting those together. Otherwise, like I said, people will be angry with me. At least I would be angry with myself. Well, I won't give you anymore reasons. Sorry, this is kind of a shorter chapter, but it's mostly because it's informational! You need to know these things for me to further the plot! Also... I apologize for all the pain poor Ed is caused during this chapter. V.V Read on.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 8- Equivalent Exchange

Envy looked up, into the angry eyes of Pride. But those weren't Pride's eyes. Those were the eyes that belonged to Edward Elric, not those of a sin. Great, Envy thought to himself, wondering whether anyone could tell he was getting a little annoyed with the situation at hand. It was definately not something to be happy about. "Good to see you again, Fullmetal pipsqueak," Envy snarled, wretching away from Ed.

"Why are you here?" Ed asked, angrily, glaring at his older brother.

"Why do you think I'm here, Fullmini?" Envy answered, waiting for Ed's temper to surge out of control. It didn't, and Ed didn't answer. "Well it's pretty obvious. You're turning into a sin, your little brother is dying, everyone aside from Wrath who's standing over there is about to be killed... I live for the thrill of killing. I kill, therefore I am." Edward looked at him, anger apparent in his eyes.

"Well you've made a huge mistake, dragging Al into this."

"Is that _all_ you care about, Fullmini? Your little brother? Certainly seems that way." Envy was growing tired of the talking. He needed to take some action. It was true, he hadn't expected any of it to go this far, especially Pride returning to his true form as Ed, but if that was how it was going to be, then he'd have to take it as it was and deal with it. "Fine then."

That was it before Envy and Ed ran, at full speed, towards each other. Ed just now realizing he couldn't transmute an automail arm he didn't have, ducked under the oncoming Envy. "Come on Fullmini, I don't have all day!" Envy said, smiling evilly at the elder Elric.

"Oh please, we haven't even started yet!" Ed replied, transmuting an item next to him into a spear. This time, when Envy lunged at Edward, he was caught in the stomach with the blade. He gagged a little as Ed tossed him around the room, swinging him violently, first one way, then the other. "Don't tell me this is all you're good for..."

At the other end of the room, Wrath had the other four pretty tied up... Literally. Roy was tied up, in the corner, gloves ripped off so he couldn't create any friction for a flame attack. Winry was laying at one end of the room, knocked unconscious from being thrown backwards. Havoc was tied up near Roy, whining because he couldn't reach his cigarettes, and Izumi was trying to convince Wrath that what he was doing was wrong. It wasn't working very well.

"You lied. I never got a mommy or a daddy!" Wrath whined to Izumi as he stood stationary in one spot, tears welling up in his eyes. What a baby. Izumi could probably take advantage of this situation.

"If you come with me, I can find you one," Izumi said, most trusting voice at her disposal. Much to her suprise, Wrath's face cleared up a little, then turned to a smile.

"Okay." Envy, still on the end of the spear, overheard this, and getting a handle on the end that was shoved through his stomach, he overturned the short alchemist at the other side. Ed fell to the ground, landing hard on his back with a thump. The sin ripped the blade out of himself and threw it to the floor angrily.

"Wrath, I am your family!" Envy yelled across the room. The little sin wasn't listening as he took Izumi's hand in happiness. "Ugh, fine. Make this more difficult..." Envy shoved a foot on top of Ed's stomach, pushing down as hard as he could, forcing the air out of the poor alchemist. Izumi cringed at the sound's Ed was making as Envy continuously kicked him, but had to ignore them as she and Wrath untied Roy and Havoc.

Roy imediately pulled a glove onto his bare hand, and snapped his fingers in protest to what the elder sin was doing to Edward. A flame shot up right near them, not quite hitting them, but Roy hadn't meant for it to. It was a warning. "Let him go."

"Never," Envy said with a smirk, kicking Ed right into the middle of the room... In the middle of the transmutation circle. Edward tried to push himself up, seriously tried, but he couldn't do much when Envy shoved the spear through his stomach and pinned him to the ground. Havoc almost threw up from the noise Ed made. "And just so everyone knows I can sacrifice this little chibi without a problem..." He grabbed the spear, and repeatedly brought it up and down, scraping the insides of Ed, who turned his head to the side and choked up some blood. Make that a lot.

It was the manical laughing of Envy that woke the younger Elric brother. Al pushed himself up just as far as he could, and took a good, long look around the room. Everything was so... Different.

He saw Winry laying unconscious next to him. Unconscious, but not dead. Therefore, everything was okay. Izumi had an arm around Wrath... When did Wrath get here? Well, alright, whatever... Havoc and Roy were busy staring at something Envy was poking and prodding at in the middle of the room, something that looked a lot like his brother...

"Ed?" He asked, pushing past his limits and rising to meet the occasion. What he saw frightened him, truly frightened him. His brother. Laying in a large puddle of blood in the middle of the room, still conscious, a bit of blood trickeling out of his mouth.

"And I see our guest of honor has finally awoken, so I might as well get started..." Envy said, giving Ed the hugest smile he'd ever seen in his life. He pulled a red stone out of his pocket. The Philosopher's stone. Raising it into the air, and stepping out of the now glowing circle, he muttered a few words to himself, and the whole room lit up with a crimson light.

---

A few seconds later, when the lighting in the room returned to normal Edward was still laying in the middle of the floor, spear shoved through his stomach, but the blood had dissapeared. Envy was laughing manically again, and Roy was beginning to wonder what happened when Ed pushed himself up off the floor, and pulled the spear out.

It landed on the floor with a clatter, next to Pride.

"Alright, listen up!" Envy said loudly. Everyone gave him their full attention, which he appreciated. "If any of you ever wish to see your little 'alchemist' again, you'll hand over his little brother!"

"What?" Izumi asked. She didn't like how confident Envy was sounding.

"I'll give you back your precious chibi in exchange for his younger brother." He motioned to Al, who was giving him a blank stare. "I need him."

"What for?" Roy had now stepped a few inches closer. This wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

"I will either have Pride, or his soul. Take your pick." He pointed to Al. There was an awefully long silence at this part. Al's soul was already fading away. What did Envy expect to gain from it?

"What do you want my soul for?" Al asked, sounding more quiet with each passing word. "I'm dying. What good will it possibly do for you?"

"Homunculi have no souls. Even if had yours, I'd be human," Envy replied. "And before I take it, I will take your form, so when I do change your brother back to normal, it will be like nothing had ever changed." Everyone was dumbstruck, especially Al. Was Ed only on Envy's side because he did want a replacement brother, or was this completely out of his control? Al had no idea. "Now take your pick!"

"That's crazy. Why not just use the Philosopher's stone to turn yourself into a human, if it can in fact be done as you say it can." Izumi questioned, waiting for a good answer. It certainly was a strange one.

"Once I gain his soul, I'll act exactly like him. Therefore, Ed will treat me like the brother he once was. Edward would be like the brother **I never had. **Even though I supposedly had **two**," Envy snarled.

"I can't allow you to do that," Izumi replied. "Turn yourself into a human and live with it. Maybe if you were a little more appreciative of what you had and not so destructive, Ed would like you a little more." The next person who spoke was not Envy, but Al. He answered for him.

"Sensei, please. I'm about to die anyway, and if it helped Ed to have me around, even as Envy... Maybe it would be better that way."

"How can you say that?" Izumi said, a kind look in her eyes. "No one can replace you."

"Well if you're not going to give me his soul..." Envy interrupted. "Then I guess it's going to stay the way it is now. Pride, kill him." He pointed a finger at Al, snarling with a look of hatred on his face.

"Of course," was all that Pride said in return.

A/N- Stopping there because chapter nine has to be long. Well this is going nicely.


	9. Whatever you Became

A/N- That was a cliffhanger, though not a very well written one... Anyway. Chapter nine and the epilogue together because... Don't read this chapter then email me right away! It will probably be a complaint! Read the epilogue before you do that! Okay! A very strange couple will emerge from this chapter... Don't know if it might be in the movie or in a later episode, but I think it's just a little strange... It fits so well in my opinion! Also, don't email me with questions about the name 'Moofy.' It's Wrath's name... Or nickname. Whatever you want to think of it as.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 9- Whatever you Became

A terrified look was planted on the face of Izumi that day, as she watched Pride walking towards his younger brother, without a single look of emotion on his face at all. Now he was a complete sin, and though he could be changed back, Izumi feared it would do no good, what with his soul missing.

Al was, in all respects, willing to make a sacrifice.

No one could understand why he'd want to give up his soul, except for maybe he just cared about Ed's happiness that much. That feeling didn't change, even when Pride finally reached him and put a hand around his neck, preparing to choke the very life out of the fifteen-year-old. Izumi stared in wonder, afraid to go near the two. But Roy wasn't.

Alphonse was coughing and sputtering from lack of air. Pride was doing a wonderful job of ending his brother's life, when he felt a heavy object hit across the back of his head. He turned to see the Fuhrer, holding a metal pipe that had been lying on the floor, glaring at the sin.

It happened all at once.

Pride, somewhat angered by the Fuhrer's sudden movement towards him, let go of the youngest Elric, and snapped his own fingers as Roy would have done had he not been too close to Al to use a flame. A scythe was summoned. Roy still hadn't gotten the hint as Pride brought back the weapon as far as he could, then swung it, right in his direction.

A few drops of blood hit the ground before Roy's right arm did.

As Pride looked down to stare at the Fuhrer, who had fallen to his knees, cradling his right shoulder where an arm had once been connected, he laughed. He stared at the blood, crimson red color, shining in all its glory on the floor. He laughed. He looked over to his brother, laying on the ground, barely conscious, having trouble breathing as a small bit of blood exited his mouth. Pride didn't laugh.

Instead, a flash of pain ran through his head, causing him to fall to the floor, just as the Fuhrer had. It was all happening again... Those horrible memories coming back to haunt him.

Flashbacks of when they were little, first learning to do alchemy, giving Winry a present. The blonde girl... Winry. Then moving on to when their mother passed away, finding Izumi as their sensei... That was Izumi standing in the room, wasn't it? Failed alchemy, resulting in Ed's automail and Al's lifeless shell of a body, becoming a state alchemist, where he met Roy and Havoc... The other two standing in the room. Finding out about the Philosopher's stone, how it used live humans as components. His and Al's fight about fake memories, killing the sins, dying, sacrificing himself for his brother, ending up on the other side of the gate, then... It went blank. What the hell happened after that?

"Envy, what happened to me after I came back from the gate," Pride asked, monotonously. Envy didn't answer. More like stared at the younger sin, wondering if what he was seeing was actually happening. Sins weren't supposed to remember their past! What was happening to Pride, then? "Envy, answer me!" Pride was getting impatient, and Envy wasn't about to lose his only ally.

"You came here."

"Liar..." Pride realized something must have transitioned this event. Why would these people be here? Then something else struck him, that conversation he'd remembered earlier, when he'd called Al his brother. "I remember something else, some house somewhere, and when I woke up right near there those two helped me." He motioned to both Winry and Izumi. "And I remember attacking her, then the other later on, then being in the middle of Central. Explain that to me." He'd hit a point, and Envy's expression changed from annoyed to one full of fear.

"Pride, listen to me," Izumi cut in. Actually, she hadn't really interrupted anything. Envy probably hadn't been about to try explaning everything that had happened to the younger sin, especially when he knew this could mean Pride would go after him, and now that Pride couldn't be killed... "You're not who you think you are. Your name is Edward Elric. You're the Fullmetal Alchemist. Don't you remember?"

Did he? Not really, but he was beginning to believe Izumi better than Envy, so maybe she was telling the truth.

"Not true!" Envy spat, trying to regain some lost ground. "You've always been this way! They're filling your head with lies! Believe me, as your older brother. You know I wouldn't lie to you." Pride realized what he was trying to do, not being very much of an idiot.

And all of this time, while Envy was trying to sound convincing to pride, he didn't even notice Wrath taking the remains of the Philosopher's stone from him, and sneaking slowly back over to Izumi. "Very good," She said to the youngest sin, who looked proud of himself. Envy still hadn't noticed. He wasn't paying attention when Izumi broke the stone in two pieces, either. How the color didn't fade from it, she might never know, but she didn't care. As long as both halves were good for something, her plan would work.

"So Envy, can you tell me why my head hurts when I try to remember these things!" Pride was getting annoyed.

"Well... I uh... You're concentraiting to hard to remember things that never happened to you. That's why." Made sense... Sort of. Izumi had walked over to where Al was laying on the ground, breathing heavily, chest contracting more than usual. He felt like his lungs were about to burst.

"Alphonse," Izumi said, handing him a piece of the stone. "I need you to use that."

"What do I do with it?"

"Look at your brother, and remember... Everything you've ever done with him. Try your hardest, and make sure you hold the stone with one hand when you do it." Izumi knew what needed to be done. They would attempt implanting some memories into the elder Elric's head, and since these memories were real, maybe they would react better than fake ones.

Al did just as he was told. Another crimson light filled the room, and Envy actually noticed this one.

Pride was brought to the ground, almost screaming in pain at all the information transfering into his head. He was on his knees again, that was for sure, as Al stood behind him, concentraiting the best that he could.

_Please, God, return my brother to me... That wasn't him._

That was the only other thought filling Al's head as the room returned to normal, everyone else blinded by the flash of light. Izumi figured now was the best time to see if her plan had worked. Walking slowly over to the blonde alchemist, she reached for his arm, and pulled on it. "Edward?" She asked.

He broke down. Whose memories were these! He was Pride, and yet in every fact, every thought, every _dream_ that had filled his brain, he had been called by that name. Edward... These were Edward's memories, but who was Edward? Was he? What was going on? Why did his head hurt so much? Who were these people? Who was the green haired guy at the beginning of the room? His memories were more complicated than nessecary.

"Yes, okay, fine, I'm Edward!" The sin burst out, tears almost coming to his eyes. They didn't however, and he regained his boring look, trying his best not to see the look of happiness on the woman's face. "I don't know who else that person could possibly be!" And he also tried to ignore when his little brother was right at his side, embracing him, but he couldn't, and returned the hug. Maybe this was his brother... There was just something about Al that seemed, well, memorable.

"You are not Edward Elric!" Envy's voice came from the other side of the room, as he ran towards the chibi. "Edward Elric isn't real! He no longer exists! They're filling your head with complete lies because they want you to replace someone they lost a long time ago!"

"And how long ago was this?" Pride asked. He felt better when people told him he wasn't Ed.

"About five years," Envy said, glaring at him, angry that Pride had ever doubted who he was, and ever believed he was someone he wasnt. "You look just like the Edward they are talking about, but your name is Pride, and you're my brother, not his." Envy gave a sickening look to Al, who seemed more than just a little frightened by the elder sins sudden outburst. Pride wasn't allowing this to happen though, and he stepped in front of who he was now sure was his younger brother, or at least had been at some time. "What are you doing?"

"You're not my brother. I don't know you," Pride stated, giving Envy an angry look. "And stop saying I'm not Edward. I am, and I know I am."

Envy was more angry than he'd ever been in his entire life. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Either way, something was going to have to be done. The chibi would be his brother, whether he took the form of Pride or Edward Elric. It really didn't matter. Reaching into his pocket to retreive the Philosopher's stone, he realized it wasn't there.

That was when he saw it. Izumi had moved to the other side of the room, drawn an array on the floor, Wrath seated in the middle of it, next to the arm that had been ripped off the Fuhrer. "Wrath, no!" He didn't reach the other end of the room before more crimson light blinded everyone. Sure was a lot of that light today...

---

What sat in the middle of that circle after the transmutation wasn't Wrath, but Moofy. A happy, adorable, normal little boy identicle to Wrath, with blue eyes to replace the purple ones, and... Let's just say he was missing a few limbs now, somehow replaced with automail through the transmutation.

"I can't believe this..." Envy said to himself. Things weren't supposed to be this way. Roy, holding his shoulder, which had stopped bleeding, sat laughing in the middle of the floor, probably in happiness that Izumi was so smart. Everything seemed all well and good until Envy punched Pride in the face, giving him a small nose bleed. Not a good thing to do.

Pride picked up his scythe, motioning for Al to get over near to Izumi and Moofy. Once his brother was out of the way, Pride was ready to swing, ready to remove more limbs as nessecary, and this time, hopefully from a certain sin with green hair.

"So, _Edward..._" It felt so weird, using that name on Pride, but Envy wanted to intimidate the other sin, show him he wasn't frightened. It didn't work with Pride. "How long before you realize you're just a back up for the real Edward who existed five years ago? A _replacement?"_ It was impossible to describe just how much Al and Pride both hated hearing that word... Replacement.

"Can you prove I'm a replacement?" Pride asked. There was no answer. "No? Then I don't believe you."

"I created you, I would know!" Envy snarled. "You didn't exist in this world before I brought you here, with the Philosopher's stone. Without that creation, there would be no you! So stop going against my will, because I also have the power to **destroy you!**" Without realizing it, Pride shot forward and took a swing at the elder sin, slicing off a few pieces of green hair. Envy grabbed the scythe away from him, throwing it too the ground. "You **will **pay for that!"

It was only a few more seconds before the two sins were lying on the ground, swinging away at each other with their bare fists, and it was this time that Izumi took advantage of the situation to get everyone else out. As long as Edward remained Pride, he couldn't die. Therefore, she didn't have to worry too much.

"Lutenite Havoc," She began. Havoc looked at her with big blue eyes. He was more than a little freaked out by the situation, let only by Envy. "Make sure you get Winry out of here safely. We wouldn't want anyone to be left to rot in this hell hole." Havoc nodded, and picked Winry up, heading for the door. Izumi's next objection was to get the Fuhrer out safely, so she walked over to Roy, and pulled him up by his left hand. "Will you be okay like this?"

"Yes, I'm sure I can make it fine. I'm just happy my arm was put to some good use," Roy said, smiling at the black haired boy in the corner. Moofy smiled back at him, took Al's arm, and helped him out of the building. The only one who stayed behind was Izumi, to make sure Envy could be done away with, for good. Al had given her the remains of the Philosopher's stone he'd been using to implant memories into his brother's skull, and she was going to make sure that went towards a good cause. She already had her plan. She would destroy Envy with it.

Pride actually had a lot of trouble defending himself from the other rampaging sin, who was practically on top of him, punching every place he could reach.

"You will not get out of here alive!" Envy said loudly. He knew he would need a Philosopher's stone, or something like it to return him to human, but he didn't really care. He had something just like that, stored in his other pocket. It seemed that Envy was thinking about that a little too much, because Pride was able to inch out from underneath him and make a run for the door, along with Izumi. "Get back here!"

Envy went running after him, full speed, grabbing the item that had been sitting in his pocket out and holding it in his hand.

As Havoc carried Winry over to where he knew Riza was waiting, he felt her stirring. He practically dropped her, but was happy he didn't when her eyes shot open. Winry looked around, eyes finally coming to rest on Lutenite Jean Havoc, who was carrying her. And it was then that Havoc finally realized how much of an abserd interest he had in girls obsessed with mechanics. To top it off, Winry was actually _very _pretty...

"Uh, hello?" She said to him, with a smile. Then she realized... "Did you... Get me out of there?" Havoc nodded, and couldn't help but blush as he did so. "Thank you," Winry said quietly. It was a rather awkward moment. Havoc still hadn't set her down, but she didn't mind. "You said you... had a girlfriend?" **Extremely **awkward.

"Yes but... She'll probably be angry I missed our date tonight."

"I see..."

---

Izumi and Pride had made it out just fine, as had Envy, who got outside, ready to reveal his secret weapon, the only card he had left to play. And he'd best do it right, this time. No screw ups.

"So Pride, do you know what..." Envy pulled another red stone out of his pocket. The incomplete Philosopher's stone, but still complete enough to make Pride a normal human again. "_This_ is?" Izumi's eyes filled with worry as the stone lit up. It reacted with Pride's sinful aura, and very soon after, as the stone shattered, Edward Elric was left standing next to his sensei. Just regular, Edward Elric. Normal eyes, body heat, normal voice, normal everything.

"Edward, I do believe..." Envy had to rephrase his words. The Fullmetal Alchemist was standing in front of him, confused as could be. There was a glint of metal flashing as Envy pulled something else out of his pocket. Something sharp. "That it is your time to die!"

Envy shot forward, a knife going right through Ed's stomach, along with his fist. It was the same thing, all over again...

Edward fell to the ground, coughing and sputtering, the taste of blood filling his mouth and exiting it as it rolled down his cheek, his throat, and then onto the ground where he lay. Al practically went into shock.

"Edward!" He yelled, running over to his brother, as Moofy simply stared in wonder, then ran to Izumi for comfort. He didn't understand what was going on. Al knelt down to the ground, and picked his older brother up as best as he could, trying not to cause him too much pain. "Ed...?" Ed must've known he was dying. His last words to Al were words of kindness and apology... Just what Al needed to hear.

"Al... I'm... sorry I never treated you better. I know you can't remember everything but... I'm sorry for that too. And no one can ever replace you. Remember that..." Ed was fading away, more quickly now than before. Al tried to choke back tears, but it wasn't working.

"Brother, please... Tell me you'll be okay! Edward?"

"Wish I could say that..." Ed replied, choking on more blood. What a foul taste. "After all that's happened... You'll still call me your brother?"

"Yes..." More tears came to Al's eyes as he watched Ed struggling to breathe. "You're not Pride... You're my brother. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. You always have been, and you always will be." Now Ed struggled to hide his tears, but one came out and rolled down his face. One of happiness.

"I love you... Al..." And those were the last words of Edward Elric, before he faded away. He fell limp in his brother's arms, eyes closed, looking at peace with himself, like a sleeping angel.

"I love you too, Ed." With one last tear dripping off his face, and one last cough, Al fell forward, taking one more breath before he left the world to join his brother.

A/N- READ THE EPILOGUE! Don't say anything yet!


	10. Sacrifice

A/N- Okay Epilogue. Read this before you flame me!

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 10- Sacrifice

Envy simply stared in wonder. Great. This wasn't what was supposed to happen! What now! He looked at everyone else surrounding him. Winry was crying. She knew what had happened. Havoc was embracing her, having completely different thoughts on the matter. How could the deaths of two people land him with a girlfriend? How lucky. Izumi had some other thoughts. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the Philosopher's stone Al had left her with. Walking slowly, trying not to disturb Envy, she went towards the Elric brothers, and grabbing a stick from off the ground, drew a transmutation circle in the dirt around them.

"What are you doing!" Envy asked, angrily.

"You'll see..." Izumi replied, setting the stone down next to them. No... Envy couldn't let this happen, couldn't just stand back and watch this happen! "These two don't deserve what they got. This isn't equivalent exchange we're dealing with here. This is something entirely different." A crimson light engulfted the outside, blinding everyone near to the building just outside of Central.

---

It was ten in the morning, and Edward was still trying to get a nice suit on for the wedding he was supposed to be attending later that day. Great. The wedding of a person he hated. Well, maybe not hated. Not anymore. "Al!" He called down the hallway for his younger brother, who came running in, already dressed up formally. "You know how to tie one of these things?" Al nodded.

When the two Elric brothers stepped outside of the hotel they'd been staying in, they could already see the people trying to get to the church. It was an important event. Very important.

The Fuhrer was to be wed to his lifelong Lutenite. How sweet. A nice happy ending for Roy and Riza, soon to be married, living one of those happy lives the important people of the military often lived. Ed couldn't say he wasn't happy. He was overjoyed. Maybe Roy would have someone else to take his sarcasm out on now that he was getting hitched. That was a good thought.

"I wonder how long it will be before those two are in the same boat..." Ed motioned towards Havoc and Winry, who were standing near their car, making out. That was a wonderful sight to see so early in the morning. Al simply laughed at the thought.

"Brother, we should get going." Ed nodded, and followed Al over to where Havoc and Winry were standing.

---

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Ed cringed and looked away from Roy and Riza when the part came to 'kiss the bride.' That wasn't Ed's cup of tea, watching people all over each other.

A great deal of people had attended the wedding, whether Roy and Riza knew them or not. First of all, Ed and Al had attended, mainly because they were good friends of the Fuhrer by now. Havoc had come because he was a lutenite to the Fuhrer, and Winry had been invited, not only because she and Havoc were a couple, but because she had hand crafted an automail arm to replace Roy's lost one.

Moofy lived with Winry. He was best friend's with Rose's son, who, with his mother, had also attended the wedding. Winry had told Moofy to think of her as an older sister, and not as a parent. This worked very well. Izumi would have taken him in, but she wasn't there.

Nor had she been anywhere for the aproximation of about five months. Not after she'd sacrificed herself for the two Elric brothers, so they could live their lives as they always should have. It was nice. Ed no longer had automail, and Al was no longer a bodiless suit of armor, so everything was pretty normal.

The Elric's always had been, and always will be, thankful to Izumi Curtis.

A/N- Very short epilogue, but it cleared things up, just in case somebody was a little angry about chapter nine. That's the end for now, but... I'm thinking of doing a sequel! Tell me what you guys think! Thanks!


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